The effect of relative health costs on income inequality in selected member countries of the organization of islamic cooperation (quantile panel approach)

Subject Areas : Financial Economics

Mohammad Ameli ¹ , Manijeh Hadinejad ^{2 *} , Abolfazl Ghiasvand ³

1 - Graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Accounting, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch
2 - Assistant Professor at Department of Economics, Tehran markzy Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Member of the Faculty of Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Department of Economics, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2024-07-03 Accepted : 2024-11-30 Published : 2025-07-02

Keywords: income inequality, relative health costs, Quantile panel regression model,

Abstract :

When there is a lot of difference between the income groups of the community, through multiple channels, it may affect the health of the communities and the structure of its costs. The present study examined the effect of relative health and life expectancy costs on income inequality. One of the challenges facing health systems today is the increasing cost of it. The effect of relative health costs on income inequality using the Gini coefficient and with a polynomial approach using annual panel data from 2000 to 2022 was examined in selected countries of the organization of Islamic Cooperation with average income, which experimental results indicate that the effect of relative health costs on income inequality in countries that are among the 50% lower income levels of this group is much higher than in countries that are in the 50% higher income level, although this is positive for both groups and it's negative. The effect of life expectancy, death rate and population on income inequality is also negative, meaning that countries with the highest income levels have a much higher effect of life expectancy variables and death rates on income inequality than countries with lower income ranks, but this is the opposite for the population variable. Also, given the effect of population structure on income inequality, it is necessary to pay serious attention to the design and drafting of policies in the field of Health, Health and demographic structure.